Trema: Mysteries of the Chroniclers
by Du Mar
Summary: This is a Trema Pokemon story. It starts 1 month before 'Trema: Land of Victory' and continues into the same timeline. This story follows Simone, a Pokemon artist, as he explores hidden mysteries of Trema and the elusive group called the Chroniclers.
1. Chapter 1

_**Hello. I go by the name of Du Mar. I am one of the two people who created the Trema Pokémon region. Since Veloran started his story without me, I came in to help Coauthor it. But I also wanted to do a story of my own, so with Veloran's permission, I decided to write my own Trema region story. Whether you came from Veloran's 'Trema: Land of Victory' story, or found this yourself, I hope you enjoy what I have to say.**_

_**Gamefreak owns the rights to Pokémon, but these characters, stories, region, and custom Pokémon belong to me and Veloran**_

_**Happy reading! ~Du Mar**_

Simone was never really a Pokémon trainer, at least, not a good one. He tried to be a trainer once, but he couldn't get his Pokémon to fight. He finally quit training when he lost to a gym leader. It didn't really matter though. At least he still drew.

Wherever Simone went, there was Pokémon; and Pokémon is a great subject for art. Simone drew many Pokémon that he saw, in the wild and owned by people. It really helped that Pokémon were so calm around him. Whenever a Pokémon was around Simone, it would calm down. The only time a Pokémon had ever been riled up around him was in a battle, but otherwise they were calm.

Even wild Pokémon were fine with Simone around. They went along as if he weren't there. Simone didn't like this much when he was a trainer, but he found it wonderful now that he was a Pokémon artist.

Ah yes, a Pokémon artist. People were so fascinated with the quality of Simone's work, but the real attraction was that Simone could draw Pokémon in their natural state. Even skittish and quick to flee Pokémon stuck around while Simone drew them.

So Simone traveled all over, drawing portraits of Pokémon and selling them. They were a must have for a long time, but then people just bought less. Simone couldn't find any new subject matter. He didn't journey with Pokémon so places like Stark Mountain and Victory Road weren't possible to travel in.

One day someone suggested that Simone go to the Trema region where many new Pokémon were, as well as lots of others from other regions. So Simone set off. It wasn't hard to get to Trema; Simone was so famous in the world of collectors that, when Simone asked for funding to explore Trema, he immediately received thousands of Pokédollars from many rich people.

So Simone arrived in Trema, on the first boat available. He was there even before Trainers looking to challenge the League were allowed to arrive so, for the time being, the wilderness was all his. Simone set off at once, he had arrived in the morning so there was no reason to stay in town. He headed west onto Wreck Path.

Wreck Path led away from Auburn City and out towards a forest. It was called Wreck Path because it had been destroyed and rebuilt many times. There wasn't much of a road left, but the trees were healthy and the area was teeming with Pokémon, if you knew where to look.

Simone set off into the brush, looking for signs of Pokémon. He'd spend so much time in the wild he could locate Pokémon better than a Pokémon ranger. It wasn't long before he found a group of little pink blobs. The Ditto didn't notice Simone, or otherwise didn't care.

Simone removed his tinted glasses and started drawing the ditto right away. Many people would say that drawing a Ditto wasn't worth it, but Simone disagreed. Then something happened.

While Simone was drawing, one of the Ditto started to glow a brilliant white. "What is this...?"

The Ditto grew and changed in its glowing state. When the glowing stopped it was no longer a pink blob. It was twice the size of the other ditto, and had grey skin with a slightly pinkish tint. It was still blob like, but just less so.

Simone quickly pulled out his Pokédex. _*Ding* [Doppel, evolved form of Ditto. Doppel can transform into whatever it sees. However it also possesses the ability to become the negative of what it sees. This move is called Negi-Form.] _"Wow," Simone said, "a new Pokémon."

Simone turned the page of his Sketchbook and immediately started drawing the Doppel, the Dittos nearby were gathered around the Doppel, so Simone put them in the picture too. When he finished, Simone covered the page with a plastic page so it wouldn't smudge.

Simone returned to the main path to look for more Pokémon to draw. It had taken up a few hours just getting the Doppel. He put on his glasses and started down the path, when he heard someone shouting. Simone turned around to see two guys running down the path, and being chased by a woman.

"Stop them!" The woman yelled. But Simone did nothing. He wasn't strong enough to stop them, and they ran right past. The woman and Simone looked at each other as she ran past. She looked angry. Simone decided that, even though it was too late, he may as well try to help. Simone started running after them.

Simone caught up to the woman rather quickly. "Sorry," He said.

The woman ignored him and kept running.

"It's just, I'm not strong. I couldn't have stopped them." Simone said. He noticed that her clothes were torn, she must have been chasing those guys for a while.

"You could've tried." The woman said, breathing heavily from running.

Simone felt guilty all of a sudden. He didn't even try to stop them. "I'm just a coward." Simone said.

"You're only as brave as you think you are!" the woman said, "That's what my father always said." She seemed very tired.

"As brave as I think I am?" Simone repeated. '_Then all I have to do is pretend to be brave!' _Simone dropped hisbag. "Watch my stuff, I'll catch them!"

"Thanks," the woman breathed, dropping down next to the bag.

Simone, now unencumbered, took off at great speed. He was no Pokéathlon star, but he was very fast and had a lot of stamina, from being in the wilderness so much. He quickly passed the two guys and stopped in front of them.

"Stop!" Simone said.

"We didn't steal nuthin!" one of them said.

"You idiot! Now he knows we stole something!" The other said.

"We'll just knock him out!" the first said, "look at how scrawny he is!"

Even Simone double-checked what he looked like. He wore a blue t-shirt and grey pants. He had a brown coat, but it was in his bag. Simone was scrawny, very thin, average height. His blonde hair certainly didn't make him any more intimidating. But…

Simone said, "Look into my eyes mortals!" as he removed his tinted glasses. The two idiots took the bait and looked right at him.

"**D-demon!"** one of the said.

"Here, take what we stole, just leave us our souls.!" The other said, spilling everything out of his pockets. The other one dropped everything he was carrying too.

About then a police car showed up. A man got out of the driver's seat. The two thieves ran over to him and said, "WE CONFESS! ARREST US!" The sheriff didn't need to be told twice. He slapped cuffs on them and put them in the back of the car. Simone used this chance to put his glasses on.

"Any idea what that was about?" the officer said.

"Just played a little mind game is all." Simone said.

"Well, that works on idiots like this, but don't go getting into trouble okay." The officer said. He walked over to the pile of stuff and selected a couple of items. "Stay safe. And would you mind cleaning that mess up? I only need to take the stolen property." The police officer drove away.

Simone picked up all the stuff the thieves dropped, and started walking back down the path. When he rounded the corner, he saw the officer handing something to the woman. '_Stolen property I bet.' _Simone thought.

Simone walked up to the woman, "thanks for watching my stuff." He said.

"Yeah, well thanks for slowing those guys down, I guess." She said.

"So I guess you got your stuff back?"

The woman nodded, holding a pendant.

"My name is Simone by the way," Simone said.

"I'm Valerie," she said.

"Well it was nice to meet you Valerie." Simone said. Simone began to leave.

"Hey! Wait!" Valerie said, "First you don't help a girl, then you leave her with your stuff, and you don't even show your gratitude!"

"I said thanks!" Simone said.

"Yeah, but that's not good enough," she said, "plus you need to pay me back for not helping in the first place!"

"Well, what do you want me to do?" Simone said, baffled by Valerie's words.

"Well," Valerie said smiling, "You'll just have to treat me to lunch."

"What?"

"Well, it's almost lunch time, and I'm hungry from all the running I did." Valerie explained.

"Fine," Simone said, giving up.

Valerie led Simone back into town. They went to an outdoor café called the Cyndaquill Cup. Simone let Valerie pick out their meals.

"So what do you do?" Valerie asked.

"I draw," Simone said, taking a sip of his iced tea.

"You draw?" Valerie said. "What do you mean?"

"I draw pictures, people buy them, I make money," Simone said.

"Cool! Can I see a drawing?" Valerie asked.

Simone pulled out the drawing of Doppel. Valerie looked it over for a while in silence. Finally she said, "It's amazing! How did you get so good at drawing?"

"I just draw all the time," Simone said, "I mean, it's not that amazing."

"Oh yes it is." Valerie said, "So don't forget it."

Simone felt a rush of happiness, "Thanks, it means a lot."

They finished their lunch and parted ways. Simone checked the time, it was somewhere around three o' clock. '_How long did that take?'_

Simone headed back out to Wreck Path, he had a quota to fill. "Just three more sketches and I'm done."

Simone traveled further down the path, and found out why it had its name. Huge sections of road were gone, leaving craters of rock and dirt. Large boulders dotted the road, almost as much as trees did. Multiple rock type Pokémon rested in and nearby these craters. Simone decided to do a landscape shot of the crater with a bunch of Rock-types like Geodude, Nosepass, and Roggenrola. Simone continued even further, capturing some bird Pokémon on page, until he came to a crossroads.

Most wouldn't call it a crossroads, the road obviously went off in one direction, but the smaller dirt path was there. It didn't look like it had been used for a very long time. Simone decided that, if he was going to find something interesting, it would be down there. Simone headed down the lesser used dirt path.

The world got very dark very fast. All the trees were blocking out most of the sun. Simone picked up his pace, he didn't want to be out too late.

Simone came to a small clearing. In the clearing were a bunch of Pokémon that Simone had never seen before. There was something celestial about them. They seemed to transcend the norm, Pokémon that were elevated above others.

Simone quickly pulled out a sketchbook and started drawing, but he didn't get very far. It became to dark to see, so Simone pulled out a flashlight. And they were gone. While Simone looked away, they disappeared. What's more, Simone couldn't remember what they looked like. All he had to go off was the start of a sketch.

By the time Simone managed to get back to Wreck path, it was night time. The sky showed it's stars, and there was no moon to light the way.

The way back to town was difficult, Simone kept tripping over rocks, due to his dark glasses. Eventually Simone made it back, by then it was well past midnight. It was colder than earlier, but the Trema region, or at least this area, wasn't very cold for Simone, so he didn't wear his coat. There were few people out at this time, but it seemed to be cold in May, at least for the locals.

Simone was most the way to his hotel when he noticed something. Simone didn't often notice things, not in cities anyway. What Simone noticed was a person, someone in an alley, using cardboard for a blanket. But it wasn't like he'd never seen something like this before, he just never thought he'd recognize them.

It was Valerie. Valerie was attempting to sleep in an alley using cardboard as cover. Simone very rarely noticed things, in fact he never really looked at people. Only in retrospect did he realize that it was obvious. If Simone had even looked at Valerie, the way she was dressed, it would have been obvious that she had no where to live.

Simone couldn't let something like this just go unnoticed. Valerie had given Simone two things today that he'd been lacking. Courage and Company. Now it was his turn.

Simone approached Valerie. She noticed him as he walked over, she wasn't able to fall asleep. "What do you want?" Valerie asked.

"Valerie," Simone said, "I don't really know you that well, but I can't leave you here."

"I wondered why you were so willing to spend time with me." she said.

"Have you eaten?" Simone said.

"Not since earlier." Valerie muttered.

"Valerie, come with me."

Valerie said nothing.

"I'll give you food, somewhere to sleep."

Valerie said nothing.

"I won't give up on you, so please!"

"OK."

Simone went with Valerie back to his hotel. It was too late to get another room, so Simone just slept on the floor while Valerie got the bed.

The following morning was rather awkward. Simone was sore and irritable, Valerie was quiet and out of place. Neither said much at all. Around nine o' clock Simone left, asking Valerie to stay in the room. When he returned, he did so with clothes for Valerie to wear.

"Where will you be going now?" Valerie asked eventually.

"South," Simone said, "in a few days I'll reach Skymarsh City. Hopefully there will be plenty to draw along the way."

"Umm..." Valerie began.

"What is it?" Simone asked.

"Please, take me with you." Valerie pleaded.

"No need to beg." Simone said. "Of course you can, I'll need a friend along."

"Thank you Simone."

"Any questions before we set off."

"Well yes, two actually," Valerie said.

"Shoot."

"Well, why Skymarsh City?"

"Easy, Skymarsh has a library of Trema Myths, I encountered some Pokémon yesterday and i can't remember what they look like. I want to find them again and draw them." Simone explained.

"Okay, that makes sense." Valerie said. "Then my other question is, how did you stop those crooks yesterday. The police officer said they were begging to be arrested."

Simone turned and looked at Valerie. "You mustn't be afraid!" he cautioned.

Valerie was silent. Then she gulped and said, "Okay."

Simone removed his tinted glasses, revealing his eyes. They were black. Black as night, black as death, black as the darkest loneliness ever felt. They sent shivers down your spine and made you want to curl up in a corner and never ever see...

Simone quickly replaced the glasses. Valerie was white with terror. It happened every time, no one could look into Simone's eyes for long and stay sane.

"What... happened?" Valerie said, as she resumed breathing.

"I don't know why, but my black eyes will hollow out a person's soul." Simone said.

"I don't understand."

"It's not meant to be understood." Simone said, "It's one of life's mysteries, put it out of your mind and focus on where we will be resting tonight."

"Where will we be resting?" Valerie asked.

Simone smiled, "At a hot spring."

_To be continued..._

_**I hope you guys like the beginning. I know it isn't the funny crazy stuff Hyato does, but that wasn't what I was going for with this. I eagerly await responses. Cya ~Du Mar**_


	2. Chapter 2: An Eventful Day

_****_**Chapter 2: An Eventful Day**

_**Sorry for the long wait. I have been busy. It's high time for Simone Chapter 2, especially if I want more readers. I hope you enjoy things getting violent. ~Du Mar.**_

Simone, useless as a Pokémon trainer, never had friends, with eyes as black and hollow as pits. And yet here he was, walking side by side a rather attractive girl who wore new clothes, fresh from the department store. Simone smiled to himself; he never really got along with people in the past so he was happy to finally have some company.

Valerie shot Simone an incriminating look. "What are you smiling about?" She asked suspiciously.

Simone didn't know what to say, so he said, "Nothing."

Valerie stared at him for a minute while they walked, then turned her head away. Simone went from pleased to confused. Unsure of how to react, he chose to stay silent as they moved on. Simone decided to look to his left, out over the sea. He could see down the rocky banks to the beach, and out to a Corsola reef off shore. It was a clear and sunny day, but dark clouds loomed ominously on the horizon.

"So," Valerie said, cutting into the beautiful silence, "How long until we reach the Hot springs?"

Simone turned to his right, looking back at Valerie. "We shouldn't arrive until nightfall."

"I thought it was only about five miles." Valerie said, "Why should it take that long?"

Just then a group of Girafig appeared down the path. Simone got out his sketchbook on instinct, and began drawing from the distance. "Oh, I see." Valerie said with a note on boredom in her voice.

Simone put precision in every line, using charcoal and gestural lines to capture the movement of the Pokémon. Valerie watched him curiously for a while, but got bored and started to absently mess with sticks on the ground. Twenty minutes later the herd of Girafig ran off, and Simone put his sketchbook away.

"Are we finally going?" Valerie asked, standing up before Simone had finished packing his bag.

"Yep," Simone said, putting his book bag on, "Let's go." Simone and Valerie continued down the path. Valerie was skipping happy to be moving on at last.

Before long, Simone spotted another group of Pokémon. There were three Teddiursa playing on the road. Simone got down close to draw them. He started sketching when Valerie came up behind him. "They're sooo cute!" she said.

The Teddiursa looked up when Valerie spoke, becoming scared and fleeing into the trees. Simone stopped drawing.

"You scared them off." Simone said.

"They would have seen us soon enough eventually; you were like 5 feet in front of them." She said.

"Pokémon are calm around me." Simone said through gritted teeth.

Valerie had a look on her face that said she didn't believe him, but said nothing.

Simone straightened his deep black glasses. "Let's go." He said without emotion.

Simone walked silently, taking long strides in a fast pace. Valerie kept up, but was downcast. She didn't mean to make him angry, but at the same time she was indignant, why did he have to care so much anyways.

Simone wasn't as mad as he let on to be, but he was a bit upset that Valerie had scared off the Pokémon. If that kept up he'd be out of a job. Simone looked ahead, there was another Pokémon, a Donphan. Simone immediately got out his sketchbook to draw.

When Valerie noticed Simone stop, she looked and saw the Donphan herself. "I don't think you should be drawing it." She said, a note of fear behind her words.

"It'll be fine." Simone said.

"But Donphan are known to attack," she said, her fear showing more.

"Just keep calm, and it'll be okay."

"What if it attacks?" Valerie said, getting a bit louder.

"Be quiet," Simone hissed. But it was too late. The Donphan down the path had noticed them, and began rolling towards them quickly. Simone and Valerie ran as fast as they could, Simone trying to stuff away his sketchbook in mid run.

They dodged into the trees off the road, hoping to slow the Donphan down, but it didn't seem to notice as it kept charging them. "WHY IS IT CHASING US!" Simone screamed.

"I DON'T KNOW!"

Simone and Valerie ran for a long time, not stopping when they couldn't hear crashing anymore. They ran until their sides burned and they were covered in sweat. Simone dropped to the ground, Valerie leaned over and braced herself on her knees.

"Never… *huff* again…" Simone said between pants.

"I… *huff* am sorry *huff* Simone." Valerie said, gulping for breath.

Simone turned to Valerie to apologize, but choked on his tongue. From where he sat, he could see right down the leaning Valerie's shirt. She was too exhausted to notice. Simone didn't look away, entranced by the sight of Valerie's sweating mounds as they swelled and shrank with every breath.

Simone was slightly disappointed that Valerie wore a bra, and even more disappointed when she stood up. "We should move." Valerie said.

"What? …Oh, yeah." Simone said, rising to his feet. Valerie was looking in the distance, Simone looked too.

They had arrived at the Hot Springs. Simone could clearly see the building, though they came up behind it. Simone and Valerie shared a relieved look, and then they headed to the Hot Spring.

Simone took care of ordering rooms, while Valerie headed straight for the springs. Simone felt he needed to take a dip as well, so he made his way up the stone steps to the spring. There weren't any other people around; apparently they didn't get too much business in the middle of spring.

Simone undressed in the locker room, then began to wash. When he finished washing he got into the Hot Spring and sighed deeply. The water was inviting, caressing his sores away. Simone let the heat of the Springs melt away his aches, and his thoughts turned to Valerie.

Simone quickly realized how the heat was affecting him, or was it his thoughts about Valerie, and he got out of the water. He went to dry himself off and get his clothes on. Luckily by the time he was dry, he didn't have to worry anymore about his body's embarrassing reaction to thoughts of Valerie.

Valerie was bathing her troubles away when she heard Simone's voice over the wall. "Valerie? You in there?"

"Yes," Valerie called back. "What do you want?"

"I'm going a bit away to draw some Pokémon. I'll be back later." Simone said.

"Okay." Valerie sank a little deeper into the water so only her eyes and up were out. '_Why ' _Valerie thought, _'why do I have to feel this way?' _Valerie had been thinking about Simone for a while, ever since He rescued her from the streets. Valerie could tell that Simone was special; else she wouldn't have had anything to do with him at all.

'_Okay! I'll seduce __him tonight!' _Valerie thought. Then she proceeded to think dirty, secret thoughts that aren't to be shared.

Simone spent the afternoon drawing. He captured multiple Pokémon on the page, before returning to the Hot Springs. Valerie was waiting on a bench as Simone returned. She waved him over. Simone quickly ran through dozens of excuses not to sit with her, but decided against it and sat down. "Hey Simone," Valerie said, pushing close to him.

'Her boob is touching my arm!' Simone thought. "Hey Valerie, what's happening." Simone said, trying not to look like he noticed.

'My boob is touching his arm, why doesn't he react?' Valerie thought. "I was just wondering what plans you had for the night." Valerie said innocently.

"Umm, well I'm going to… Sleep." Simone said, unable to think anymore. Simone felt Valerie's breasts push harder against him.

"Well I was wondering…" Valerie began, but then she saw it, and so did Simone. They both knew exactly what it meant, and Valerie knew there was nothing she could do about it.

They saw a new Pokémon. A new Trema region Pokémon that was probably rare, and definitely new to Simone. It was a small Pokémon that vaguely reminded Simone of Ralts. It was deep blue, with orange markings and a purple…hair, or was it something else.

Simone quickly got out his sketchbook, but the Pokémon was running away. "Come back!" Simone called as he gave chase.

"Simo-oone," Valerie whined, then decided to follow as well.

Simone chased the Pokémon into the trees, dodging stray limbs and fallen logs in order to keep up. The sky had turned a fiery crimson as twilight kicked in. Simone hurried to the best of his ability, unaware that Valerie was barely managing to keep up fifty feet behind him.

Then they came to a field. It was a large grassy clearing, with at least one hundred yards of brushless space. In the middle of the field on a raised area of ground was a tree. The lone oak tree stood mighty and huge in the middle of the field.

The Pokémon had just climbed into the tree. There were many lights coming through the branches, probably bug types. Simone walked over to the base of the tree and sat against it, panting from the third marathon in two days.

Valerie soon arrived, and sat next to Simone, just as the last colors of the sun were falling over the horizon, giving way to the empty night sky. "Oh well," Simone said, looking up, "Can't catch em all."

Valerie smiled, attracting Simone's attention. The moment they shared was making Valerie's heart race. "I have a proposition for you…" She began. Simone raised his eyebrow inquisitively.

A harsh cry filled the air, interrupting the moment. Simone and Valerie napped their attention to the source of the cry. There were Pokémon coming from the trees, all kinds of forest Pokémon from Scolipede, to Pidgeot, to Foretress and on. But something was horribly wrong, the Pokémon weren't normal. They looked like black shadows, and their eyes were glowing yellow.

But the worst part was, they were coming straight for Simone and Valerie. They ran, crawled and moved with killing intent towards the two. Simone and Valerie gripped each other, pulling close and making no sound out of fear.

Then out of nowhere three Pokémon showed up. A Conkeldurr, an Electrivire, and a Magmortar erupted from red beams and immediately started fighting the wild Pokémon. The three Pokémon acted fast, using moves without receiving orders, or so it seemed.

Simone and Valerie were frozen in place, unable to act in the situation. Someone stepped into their view and crouched over. "Don't worry; I'll take care of things." His voice was deep, but it was too dark to see any details of his face. He stood up and turned around, shouting orders to his Pokémon.

Simone had no idea how long the battle lasted, but just when he thought it was over, a Scizor flew out of nowhere, and sped towards him with intense speed. Simone put his arms out, not that it'd do any good.

Then the mysterious Trainer stepped in the way. He shot a look at the Scizor, causing it to turn and run.

Before he knew it, the battle was over. Simone's heart raced out of control, he had never been in such an intense situation.

And he was useless.

Simone hung his head. He knew that he couldn't be a Trainer, but he hadn't thought about the dangers of travelling to Trema alone. It was isolated for the best Trainers, and for good reason. Simone didn't know what to do.

"Are you two alright?" The man asked, "I don't know why you were targeted. But everything's okay now." Simone looked at the man, he had dark skin and a black goatee. He wore a white cloak that concealed the top of his head, and some forester clothing underneath that. "My name is Roy, what are yours?"

"I'm Valerie," Valerie said.

Simone was quiet. He was still kicking himself for being useless. He took off his glasses; they were making things too dark to see. Simone looked up, "I'm Simone…" he began.

"The man with the black eyes." Roy said quietly. "You've finally come…"

"Huh?" Simone didn't know what to say.

Roy spaced out, suddenly deep in thought. "OY! Tell us what you mean!" Valerie snapped, bringing Roy back from where he was.

"I… don't know where to start…" Roy said.

Simone stood up, "Why don't we start by finding somewhere comfortable to sit." He suggested.

Simone and Valerie led Roy back to the Hot Springs, where they went into the room they had paid for. Simone set out some tea while Roy began. "I suppose the first thing to say is that I'm not exactly human." Roy began.

"Well, not to say I'm not human, just that I'm not an ordinary human. I am what is known as a Chronicler."

"A Chronicler? Like a historian?" Valerie asked.

"Not exactly," Roy said, taking a sip of his tea. "I am… it is certainly difficult to explain. Let's see," Roy stopped to think, "A Chronicler is… an agent, yes that seems right; an agent that serves the balance of Pokémon, and people."

"I don't really understand… But go on." Simone said.

"Well, there's a lot more to it." Roy said. "And I can't explain it all… because I'm not the leader of us. You see, there are six of us, and only the leader has all the info… but the others are asleep."

"Asleep?"

"Yes, and no. They are awake as humans, but they don't know that they are the Chroniclers. Long ago, when we were no longer actively needed in the world, we decided to go dormant. I remained so that I could reawaken them when the time came."

"And when will this time come?" Simone asked.

"_When the Darkness moves again, and the prophet appears, the war will resurface, and the Chroniclers return…_There's more to the prophecy, but I forgot…" Roy said.

Simone took a long drink of his tea. "This is all very… interesting. But I am having trouble believing you."

"And you still haven't told us why you were surprised to see Simone's eyes… not that they aren't super creepy." Valerie said.

Simone shot a look at Valerie; thankfully he had his glasses on.

"I'll have to deal with that later… but can I ask you something?" Roy said.

"Sure." Simone said.

"Would it be alright if I travelled with you?"

Simone and Valerie looked at each other. "Well… we might need a Trainer with us…" Valerie began.

"True, neither of us have any Pokémon, so the protection would be helpful." Simone said.

"Then I think yes?"

"Yes." Simone said, "You may come with us."

Simone, Valerie and Roy sat silently for a moment. The silence was rather awkward, and they all knew it. "So… where are we going?" Roy asked finally.

"We are on our way to Skymarsh city." Simone explained, "So I can visit their famous library."

Roy nodded. "Well. I had better return to my house. I'll need to pack for the journey. I'll meet you two here in the morning?"

"Yep, see you tomorrow." Valerie said.

When Roy left the awkward silence returned, like an unwanted guest.

"Soo…" Valerie said, "I'd best get back to my room. Sleep well." And she was gone.

Simone sat at the table for a while, thinking things over. It was a long day, but the events seemed to pass quickly. Simone eventually started to nod off, returning his thoughts to the strange Pokémon he had seen the night before.

'I will find you… I promise.' Simone thought as he climbed into the rented bed. Simone drifted off into sleep, finally at ease from the events of the day. He would have to wake early to get a morning dip in the hot springs.

But for now… for now he slept.

_**Not enough battles? Not enough action! The next chapter gets better, it's just a tad slow right now. I hope you guys return to read when I continue Trema: Mysteries of the Chroniclers. ~Du Mar**_


End file.
